Pharmacies

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Hoogstwaarschijnlijk
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Pharmacies

Postby Hoogstwaarschijnlijk » 2015-07-14, 10:30

I just came back from Switzerland and like in other countries they seem to have a massive amounts of pharmacies there. It seems to me that often in other countries in each small village there is one, or maybe even more in one street. I wonder: what do people do there, why are there so many pharmacies necessary? I can't remember the last time I went in one, it must have been several years ago at least.

Then I realised that I don't see many 'drogisterijen' (drugstores) in other countries. So maybe sometimes in pharmacies you can buy the same things I would buy in a drugstore, like shampoo and medicines you don't need a prescription for?

How is this where you live? Are there many pharmacies or are there also drugstores?


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Re: Pharmacies

Postby md0 » 2015-07-14, 10:51

For me those two concepts aren't separate. There are very few non-prescription drugs you can buy outside a pharmacy (basically I can only think of light painkillers).

And in pharmacies you can buy both prescription and non-prescription drugs, as well as things like nappies, baby food, some basic cosmetics, and shampoos. Some will also pierce your ears and sell some basic jewellery.
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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Johanna » 2015-07-14, 11:07

In Sweden the concepts aren't separate either, and until a few years ago you couldn't even buy non-prescription things like normal painkillers outside a pharmacy, while now you can buy them at supermarkets and even petrol stations, although you have to ask for them while in pharmacies they're on display. They're also cheaper in pharmacies.

Pharmacies in Sweden used to be all about medicine, sure they had stuff like shampoo, but it was for people with allergies pretty much, while everyone else got theirs from the supermarket. Nowadays when the state doesn't have monopoly the pharmacies have begun to branch out a bit though, and have often added more of that, and even make-up :? Also, quite a few pharmacies in villages and poor areas have closed while new ones have opened in the cities in areas where people have money.
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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Varislintu » 2015-07-14, 11:47

Hoogstwaarschijnlijk wrote:Then I realised that I don't see many 'drogisterijen' (drugstores) in other countries. So maybe sometimes in pharmacies you can buy the same things I would buy in a drugstore, like shampoo and medicines you don't need a prescription for?

How is this where you live? Are there many pharmacies or are there also drugstores?


How Finns understand things:

Pharmacy: We have a lot of them, and they have a monopoly on all drug-like products like over-the-counter pain killers. So you need a pharmacy to even get pain killers. Therefore we have a lot of them. :P

"Drugstore": If I understand you correctly, this is something we Finns see abroad, we don't have these anymore. They sell shampoo and beauty products (I think these used to be called kemikalio in Finland, i.e. places that sell chemicals).

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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Hoogstwaarschijnlijk » 2015-07-14, 12:34

meidei wrote:For me those two concepts aren't separate. There are very few non-prescription drugs you can buy outside a pharmacy (basically I can only think of light painkillers).


Yes, light painkillers, but also for example pills for hayfever and anti-musquitostuff and all those kind of things. But it's not really the main thing of a drugstore, you can buy all kind of things there: all kind of cosmetics, jewellery, sweets, sanitary towels, condoms, perfumes...

You can't buy any of those things in a pharmacy here, I guess you could buy non-prescripted medicines there, but I'm not sure. The one I remember wasn't really a shop, just a counter where you could go with the recipe of the doctor and then they got you the right medicine.


So I guess in a way a pharmacy in other countries is what a drugstore is here, except that you can also get prescribed medicines there...?
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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Varislintu » 2015-07-14, 13:00

Hoogstwaarschijnlijk wrote:So I guess in a way a pharmacy in other countries is what a drugstore is here, except that you can also get prescribed medicines there...?


I think that description is too broad. :hmm: In Finland at least, the purposes of drugstores as you describe them (lotions, hygiene, cosmetics, hair items, etc), have been spread out and taken over by a myriad of other store types, mostly supermarkets, multi-purpose stores, hair salon stores, organic stores, and make-up stores. So pharmacies, as we understand them, don't even try to compete with all these in the broad sense. They sell these products only in small scale. If they sell lotions or shampoos, they are either exclusive brands that you can only get in pharmacies, or some kind of special products for health or sensitivity purposes.

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Re: Pharmacies

Postby loqu » 2015-07-14, 14:47

In Spain it's like this:

A droguería is where you buy shampoo, soap, commercial hygiene products such as toothpaste or earplugs. Droguerías are also usually perfumerías, so they also sell perfumes and eau de cologne.

A farmacia is where you buy drugs, but they also sell other special health products such as shampoo for people with a skin disease, special toothpaste, or baby products.

We also have parafarmacias (often in big hypermarkets, too) which can sell health and baby products but no drugs.
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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Sol Invictus » 2015-07-14, 15:46

Here there's also no distinction - they sell all kinds of drugs and also hygene and health products. It's all very clinical, not mixed in with convinience stores.

IDK if they are more widespread here than in other countries, they are not hard to find, if there are a lot of them in one area probably it's just because there are more people shopping there in general.

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Re: Pharmacies

Postby linguoboy » 2015-07-14, 16:17

I think of a "pharmacy" as a subsection of a drugstore. Like you go in and there's snacks up front, toiletries and beauty products in the aisles, over-the-counter medicines along the walls, and a pharmacy in back. The only pharmacies I remember seeing outside of drugstores were in hospitals and strictly inpatient. I can't remember seeing a true stand-alone pharmacy in the US.
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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Levike » 2015-07-14, 16:33

Sol Invictus wrote:Here there's also no distinction - they sell all kinds of drugs and also hygiene and health products. It's all very clinical, not mixed in with convenience stores.

Same here.

Farmacie in Romanian and gyógyszertár in Hungarian.

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Re: Pharmacies

Postby mōdgethanc » 2015-07-17, 4:30

I think of a pharmacy and a drugstore as being the same thing, but it seems they've branched out more into general store territory even during my lifetime. If there is a difference, I'd say a pharmacy could be either a standalone building or part of a medical centre, but a drugstore is always an independent business.
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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Hoogstwaarschijnlijk » 2015-07-18, 12:42

Funny co-incidence: this week it was in the newspaper that medicines in pharmacies can be way more expensive than in drugstores, because of the 'conversation' that pharmacists give you ('take twice a day at most').
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Re: Pharmacies

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-07-18, 14:15

I don't think I remember ever seeing a drugstore in my whole life except in really old Donald Duck comics, and the closest pharmacy is part of a supermarket.

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Re: Pharmacies

Postby linguoboy » 2015-07-18, 15:12

vijayjohn wrote:I don't think I remember ever seeing a drugstore in my whole life except in really old Donald Duck comics, and the closest pharmacy is part of a supermarket.

Really? Never been in a Walgreens, CVS, Health Mart, Longs Drug, or Rite Aid in Austin or anywhere?
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Re: Pharmacies

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-07-18, 15:55

linguoboy wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:I don't think I remember ever seeing a drugstore in my whole life except in really old Donald Duck comics, and the closest pharmacy is part of a supermarket.

Really? Never been in a Walgreens, CVS, Health Mart, Longs Drug, or Rite Aid in Austin or anywhere?

It's been so many years since I last went to a Walgreens that I don't even remember whether I've actually been inside one more than once. (I can't even remember the last time I saw a Walgreens, tbh). I don't remember actually going inside a CVS either, even if I've seen one often from the outside. I'm not sure I've even heard of the other three.

My aunt is a doctor, and she used to get lots and lots of free samples of all kinds of medications, so generally, if we needed any medicines, we'd just get them from her. She also gave us a huge cardboard box stuffed with various kinds of medicines just in case we needed them.

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Re: Pharmacies

Postby sandrodream » 2015-10-04, 8:33

In Italy there are Farmacie every corner of streets, they must respect a distance of about 150 meters and you can recognize the presence of a Farmacia because have this symbol outside

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if the Farmacia is closed the light become Red colour if the Shop is opened the color is Green

Then there are other kinf of Farmacie named Parafarmacie and are in Supermarkets and can sell only some kind of medicines and beauty products

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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Prowler » 2015-10-20, 19:32

They're not rare to find here, but I wouldn't say there's one around every corner. That being said, you're never too far from one.

ATMs however, now those are everywhere. I remember me and my family having to walk for so long to find ATMs in countries like Belgium and the Netherlands.

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Re: Pharmacies

Postby Saaropean » 2015-10-21, 1:52

The same distinction exists in [flag=]de[/flag]: An Apotheke (you can see the logo below) is a small store run by an independent pharmacist that sells mostly prescription drugs. A Drogerie is a store where you can buy cosmetics, hygiene products, household articles, non-fresh food and more. They are usually chain stores (e.g. dm, Rossmann, Schlecker). Apotheken usually have quite restricted opening hours.

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In [flag=]fr-qc[/flag], a pharmacie is like a German Drogerie with an Apotheke section and often a post office. They are usually run by pharmacists as franchises of big chains (e.g. Jean Coutu, Brunet, Pharmaprix [called Shoppers Drug Mart in English Canada]). Pharmacies often have even longer opening hours than épiceries (supermarkets).


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